Coaching the Little Guys

Oscar Ponce shares his passion at an inner-city high school program

This past spring, there were 62 students on the Abraham Lincoln track team, and although the team didn't have any state qualifiers, Ponce was named the Denver Public League's coach of the year. His best distance runner was junior Victor Salvatierra, who joined the cross country team after the season started and wound up becoming the team's No. 1 runner and a 4:40 miler in track.

Ponce, 31, and married for two years, is a mentor to most of his athletes, including many sons and daughters of immigrants being raised by a single mom, just as he was.

"I spend a lot of time with them" says Ponce, who often stays at the school until 8:30 p.m., advising and tutoring the students. "One of our obstacles is eligibility, and I take it as my responsibility to make sure they are student-athletes. I knew that would be the case building this from the ground up."

He says he couldn't do it without the support of his wife or the lift his mother gave him as a kid. "My mother worked two jobs to keep me and my sisters afloat," he says. "And she decided to come to the U.S. so we could have a better life. She has been a single mother and hard worker all her life. She's the backbone and a big reason why I am where I am."

Ponce has grown deep roots in Colorado. He moved to Denver with his mother and four sisters when he was 14, not knowing any English. He became an all-state cross country and track runner at Denver North High School, and, in 1995, became the first member of his family to graduate from high school.

Ponce's emphasis on education and athletics continued in college in Boulder. He earned academic All-American honors and was a six-time All-Big 12 runner, graduating in 2000 with a degree in Spanish literature. Then he earned his masters in education at Boston University, where he also ran for the Boston Athletic Association.

Ponce made his marathon debut at the 2008 Denver Marathon, clocking an eighth-place 2:45. But now coaching is his passion. He credits Wetmore, as well as his high school coach, Jeff Young, with helping him develop as a runner and as a person.

"I knew immediately that Oscar was a tough, courageous kid. Not long thereafter I learned that he had a quietly excellent mind as well," Wetmore says. "I am exceptionally pleased to see what kind of man he has become."